Burial casket



Oct. 28, 1930. J. b. CLARKE 9 BURIAL CASKET Filed April 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR:

A TTORNE Y.

Oct. 28, 1930. J. Q. CLARKE 1,

BURIAL CASKET Filed April 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR:

BY @fi/a u e,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 28, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT NOFFICE' JOHN G. CLARKE, OF CRAWFOBDSVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR '10 WILLIAM W. CLARKE,

013 LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA BURIAL CASKET Application filed April 5, 1928. Serial No. 267,710.

This invention relates to the type of burial casket that is designed to be opened or left open during funeral ceremonies to permit a corpse to be viewed by relatives and friends, the invention having reference more particularly to a burial casket having a low and readily accessible bed or couch for the corpse to rest u on in full view.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved burial casket which shall be of such construction as to minimize the number of'movable parts and eliminate separate parts that would in use be required to be separated from other parts.

Another object is to provide an improved burial casket which shall be so constructed as to provide an artistic background behind a corpse without requiring costly drapery in I the u pe'r portion of the casket.

A urther object is to provide an improved burial casket which shall be of such construction as to permit the casket to be readily opened or closed without necessitating rearrangement of loose draperies or other features of a casket, and which shall not be likely to give an observer the unpleasant impression of a burial that might result from seeing a corpse deeply sunken in a casket having considerable depth due to high body walls.

A still further object is to provide a burial casket which may be constructed principally of metal without being costly, but shall be durable and influential in the preservation of a corpse not only against the ravages of time and natural elements but also grave robbers.

With the above-mentioned and other ob 'ects in view, the invention consists 1n a cas-- et having a novel base part and a novel cover part hinged to the base part to be locked thereto, the base part having a bed thereon and being provided with means to lock the cover part to the base part, the invention consisting also in the arts and combinations and arrangements 0 parts as hereinafter particularly described and further definitely claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a casket constructed substantially in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section approximately central of the casket; Fig. 3 is a plan of the base part and longitudinal central section of the cover part tilted back on its hinges, a portion of'the base part being broken away; Fig. 4 is av transverse section of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the casket in which the coverpart is locked to the base part; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a curtain with which the casket is provided; Fig. '7 isa fragmentary top plan of the base part and the locking device; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary transverse section clearly showing slight modifications on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 9 is a fragmentary top plan showing the locking means and slightly modified base lar wall portions 5 and 6 on its shorter edges.

The wall portions may be intergral with the laminating plate or otherwise fixed thereto and are braced by inclined plates 7 and 8 fixed to the tops of the wall portions and to the longer edges of the bottom plate 1, the end wall portions being similarly braced by plates 9 and 10. The wall bracing plates give the appearance of finishing moulding on the base parts. The base part has a suitable bed structure 11 which is largely of wood and secured to the bottom plates by means of rods 12 or otherwise as may be preferred. The bed is suitably ornamented or finished with fabric 13 on its upper portions and upholstering 14 on its top. The plan dimensions of the bed are somewhat less than the dimensions within the wall portions of the base part which provides space for a cover part to rest directly upon the bottom plate of the base part. The

bed is provided with a head-rest 15 and a means of bolts 17 and 17 so as to be adjustable each towards the other.

A novel cover part is provided to co-operate with the base part and it comprises a body portion composed of front and rear walls 18 and 19 and end walls 20 and 21 to which a suitable top portion 22 is connected so as to be a permanent portion of the cover part. The bottoms of the front and rear body walls have inwardly rolled base rails 23 and 24 and the end walls have similar rails 25 and 26. The base rails normally rest upon the bottom plate at the inner side of the wall thereon, and the rear wall 19 is connected to the top of the base wall 4 by means of a hinge or hinges 27 located on the rear wall 19 at a suitable distance upward from the bottom of the base rail 24 so that the rail is swung away from the base plate when the cover part is tilted back over the top of the wall 4 at a suitable distance to be stopped as the rail 24 is brought into contact with a stop plate or plates 28 preferably fixed to the bed structure and projecting rearward.

The'cover part is locked to the base part, preferably by means of a fiat locking bar 29 suitably supported on the base part to slide longitudinally and having relatively oblique angled slots 30 therein through which studs 31 extend that are suitably supported by the base part and cause the bar 29 to move laterally when it is moved longitudinally, so that when the bar is moved in one direction it is brought into engagement with the top of the rail 23. The locking bar has a suitable stem 32 on one end thereof which is accessible through a slot 33 in the base wall or in the wall 18 as may be preferred, the stem preferably having screw threads to be engaged by a threaded socket and handle whereby to operate the locking bar.

In order to simplify the ornamentation of the inside of the cover part and at small cost, a curtain is arranged therein to afford an ornamental back-ground at only a short distance from the bed, and to this end a supporting curtain rod 34 is fixedly supported by the end walls 20 and 21 adjacent to the inner side of the front wall 18, and a similar guide rod 35 is likewise supported by the wall 19, both rods being conveniently close to the base rails of the body portion. Two curtain sections 36 and 37 are connected slidably and foldably on the rods and preferably have permanent connections with the end walls 20 and 21 respectively, the movable ends of the curtain sections being provided with metallic binders 38 and 38 respectively that are adapted to slide on the rods and to be moved by hand when required, the binders being brought together when the cover part is tilted back, so that the inner portion of the cover part above the curtains may be plainly finished inexpensively.

tends under and is suitably secured to the wall 3, and the main portion of the laminating plate is pressed upward to constitute a metallic bed frame portion 41 having a wooden top part 42 to which upholstery may be fixed most conveniently. With this formation the locking bar 29 is movably supported directly upon the plate portion 41 under a portion of the part 42, so as to be moved laterally into connection with the top of the rail 23, the studs 31 being fixed to the plate 41.

In practical use the cover part is locked to the base part for shipment and handling, the base partbeing carried by the cover part by using the handles on the cover part. The curtains 36 and 37 are drawn apart and folded against the ends of the cover part so that they fully clear the bed and permit the cover part to be closed down onto the base part. When it is desired to exhibit the interior of the casket or to permit a corpse on the bed to be viewed, the cover part is manually unlocked and tilted back on the base part, the curtain being automatically shifted y the cover part to operative position, after which the curtains are drawn together along the curtain rods and afi'ording an ornamental back ground not far behind the corpse while preventing the. remaining portions of the cover part interior being seen. When the funeral ceremonies have been concluded the curtains are drawn apart and foldedto clear the corpse and the bed, after which the cover part is tilted over onto the base part and locked by the locking means provided for the purpose.

What is claimed is:

1. A burial casket including a base part having a locking bar thereon guided for longitudinal and lateral movements, a cover part hinged at one side to one side of the base part and having a base rail on the opposite side thereof to be engaged by the locking bar upon lateral movement thereof, and handles mounted on the cover part.

2.- A burial casket including a base part having walls on its side and and edge portions, a bed secured upon the base part, stop plates supported on one side of the bed and projecting to a point approximately above one of said side walls, and a cover part hinged at one side above its lower portion to the top of the rear one of said side walls and having a bottom rail on the inner side of saidlower portion to be carried into con- The side walls of the cover part are protact with the stop plates upon being tilted back on its hinge to limit the tilting movement.

3. A burial casket comprising a substantially flat base part having an upstanding 5 bed portion and walls extending about the bed portion separate therefrom, the walls being lower than the bed portion and having inclined brace plates on the outer side thereof, said base part adjacent to said walls being laminated, a plurality of stop plates supported substantially upon the ase part and extending rearward nearly to the top of the rear one of the walls, a. cover part comprising body front and rear walls and also end walls having each a bottom rail on the inner side of the lower portion thereof to rest upon said laminated portions of the basev part at the inner side of the walls thereon, the cover part comprising a top portion permanently m fixed to said body walls, the rear one of said body walls having a hinge connection above the bottom rail thereon with the top of the rear wall on said base part to swing said bottom rail on said rear body wall up to contact with said stop plates, carrying handles mounted on said cover part walls, and locking means to detachably secure said body front wall to said base part.

4. In a burial casket, the combination of a base having a wall thereon and also stop devices in proximity to the top of the wall, a cover part having a bottom rail normally seated upon the base at the inner side of the wall, and hinging means connecting the cover part with the top of the wall to swing thereon and carry the rail into contact with the stop devices.

5. In a burial casket, the combination with a base part, of a cover part comprising opposite side walls and opposite end walls, a curtain rod secured to the end walls adjacent to one of the side walls, a second curtain rod secured to the end walls adjacent to the opposite one of the side walls, and a pair of flexible 5 curtains shiftably connected to said rods.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature on the 31st day of March, 1928.

JOHN Q. CLARKE. 

